


Airplanes and Resiliency

by nakedrednailpolish



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week 2015, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:30:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4350605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakedrednailpolish/pseuds/nakedrednailpolish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On their hunt for the Author, Emma, Regina, and Henry fly to Callifornia in search of their next clue. Swan-Mills Family fluff and a little accidental angst.<br/>Written for Swan Queen Week 5, Day 4: Mistaken for a Couple</p>
            </blockquote>





	Airplanes and Resiliency

           “Here, let me help you with that.”

            Regina paused as she struggled to lift her suitcase above her head and glanced at the flight attendant who had spoken. Before she could respond, Emma approached from behind her, took the suitcase from Regina’s hands, and hoisted it into the overhead compartment.

            “I got it. Thanks.” Smiling, the young flight attendant nodded to them and rushed forward to help an elderly woman with her luggage.

            “Thank you,” Regina said. She slid into their row and sat down next to Henry, who had taken the window seat.

            “No problem,” Emma replied, lifting her own bag into the overhead. After verifying that everything was secure, she plopped down into the remaining aisle seat. Immediately, Henry took out his Nintendo and continued his game, something with space and aliens; both he and Emma had insisted to Regina that it was the “greatest shit ever,” but she failed to see their points.

            Regina glanced at the window to their left, eying the workers outside who were moving around luggage and preparing the plane for flight. Emma bent over her cell phone to text David and Mary Margaret that they had boarded. Passengers continued to shuffle through the aisle, hoisting luggage above their heads and finding their seats.

            Eventually, the pre-flight announcements began, and passengers began to buckle their seatbelts. The flight attendant flew down the aisle, pausing to tell Henry and Emma to put away their electronic devices, and joined another young woman at the front of the cabin. As the engine rumbled to life, a voice overhead proclaimed, “Welcome aboard to flight SMF108 from Portland, Maine to Los Angeles, California. This is your captain speaking. We should be arriving at our destination in about seven hours…” The captain continued his welcome speech as the plane slowly taxied towards the runway.

            Emma glanced at Regina during the safety demonstration, noticing the way she gripped the armrests, knuckles turning white.

            “Regina,” she mumbled, though the brunette clearly didn’t hear her over the engine and announcements. Once the presentation was over, Emma leaned back over and asked, “Regina, you okay?”

            “I’m fine,” she snapped. She lifted her head and continued to stare straight ahead.

            Emma had known something was off since they arrived at the airport; Regina had eyed the metal detector with disdain, scoffed when she was told to take her shoes off, and when the plane had taxied to the boarding gate, she’d watched it with a quiet nervousness that Henry hadn’t picked up on.

            “You’ve never ridden a plane before, have you?”

In response, Regina swallowed, uttering a quiet, “No.”

The blonde reached into the carry-on at her feet and pulled out three sticks of gum.

            “Here,” she said, keeping one for herself and passing the other two over for Regina and Henry. “It helps keep your ears from popping.”

            Tentatively, Regina released her death-grip on the armrests to peel away the wrapper and put the stick in her mouth. The sharp tang of peppermint filled her mouth as she chewed. At least it gave her something to focus on as the gigantic metal contraption continued to wheel forward.

            “Hey,” Henry said, taking his mother’s hand. “It’s gonna be okay.”

            “Yeah,” added Emma from her other side. “You’re gonna be fine.” To emphasize her point, she gently put her left hand over Regina’s right, which had resumed clutching the armrest tenaciously.

            “Thank you,” Regina mumbled again, resolving to stay quiet for the rest of the take-off. She chewed her gum thoughtfully, wondering what it had to do with keeping her ears from popping.

            Finally, the plane made it to the runway, roaring even louder as the craft began to pick up speed. Still squeezing his mom’s hand, Henry eagerly looked out the window, remembering the flight they’d taken to New York and enjoying this one just as much. Low buildings passed by quickly, and suddenly, the bumpiness of the runway was replaced by smooth air. The aircraft had taken flight. Henry watched as the buildings and workers of Portland International Jetport grew smaller and smaller.

            The plane continued to climb steadily upwards. At one point, Henry nudged Regina, saying, “Look, Mom!” and pointing out the window.

            Despite her nervousness, she followed his instructions, leaning forward slightly to peer out the window. Outside, the land stretched out for miles. The cars driving through the town below them inched along like tiny, colorful beetles. Gigantic bodies of water shrunk in relative size, reminding Regina of how high up they were. It was both magnificent and terrifying.

            Swallowing, Regina retreated into her seat again, focusing on the blank screen that was built into the chair in front of her. Emma ran a thumb over her hand and commented, “We’re almost there.”

            Regina nodded, closing her eyes, trying to think of anything but the steadily increasing distance between the plane and the ground.

            Finally, the cabin leveled out slightly, and the captain made an announcement about cruising altitude and snacks and lavatories.

            “Hey, it’s okay now. We’re at cruising altitude. That means you can walk around if you want to.” Regina slowly opened her eyes and nodded. After another moment or two, she stood.

            “I need to use the restroom.”

            Emma nodded, standing to let Regina out from their row. The brunette disappeared into the back of the cabin.

            Noticing Henry had stopped gazing out the window and was now invested in his Nintendo, Emma spoke up. “Hey kid, why don’t you close the blinds? I think your mom would feel more comfortable that way.”

            Not tearing his eyes away from the game. Henry reached up, feeling the wall for the panel that would come down over the window. Once he shut it, he buried himself into the game again, looking up only when the flight attendant approached their row with drinks.

            “Coke, please.”

            The young woman pulled out a can of Coke for Henry, which Emma passed over. He popped it open, took a swig, and returned to his game.

            “Same for me, please,” Emma requested. Smiling, the flight attendant handed her an identical can.

            “Do you think Mom’s gonna want anything?” Henry asked without looking up.

            “Right, um…” She wasn’t really sure what Regina would want. The brunette was happy with their root beer runs at home, but right now she still might be shaken from taking off.

            “She’ll just have water, for now.” The woman bent down to retrieve a bottle and handed it to Emma.

            “There you go. If you need anything else, just ask. My name is Amanda.”

            “Okay, thanks Amanda.”

            “You’re welcome, ma’am,” she replied, moving back to the next row.

            Emma put down Regina’s tray and put the water on it before breaking into her own drink and fiddling with the screen in front of her. A few minutes later, Regina squeezed back through the aisle with a significant amount of color returned to her face.

            “We got you some water,” the blonde informed as she let Regina into their row. “If you want something else, we can ask the flight attendant…”

            “No, this is fine. Thank you,” the brunette replied, twisting open the bottle and taking a sip.

            “You look a lot better.” Emma pulled a set of headphones out of her carry-on and started to untangle them.

            “Yes, well, I’m still not quite used to the plane.” She bent down to retrieve the storybook from her oversized purse.

            “C’mon, Regina, not now. Can’t we talk about it later on? They’ve got Divergent.”

            “Considering we’re traveling 3,000 miles away from home to chase a clue we’re not even sure will be there, I believe it’s in our best interests to be prepared.”

            “And we will be, Regina. Chill out.” She plugged her headphones into her armrest. “Let me enjoy myself for a few hours.”

            Just as the opening credits rolled onto Emma’s screen, Regina yanked the blonde’s headphones from the armrest.

            “Hey!”

            “You have seven hours to do whatever you damn well please. I don’t think it’s inappropriate of me to ask for one or two of them.”

            Emma stared sadly at her screen, desperately wanting to watch the movie, but knowing Regina was right. She’d have plenty of time to watch it later.

            “Fine,” she grumbled, pulling the buds out of her ears and stowing the cords into her bag.

            Together, the two discussed theories and plans, preparing for whatever scenario they may encounter in California. Occasionally Henry would throw his two cents in, though considering they’d already discussed most of this back in Maine, there wasn’t much for them to say. The next clue to finding the author was just outside of Los Angeles, and the three of them were very anxious to find out what it was.

*

            Some time later, the flight attendants began serving lunch. The three decided it would be best to put away the conversation for now so that they could eat.

            “Hi,” Amanda greeted cheerily. “We have two options for lunch today – a grilled chicken salad or a hamburger with mac and cheese.”

            “We’ll have three of the salads, please,” answered Regina automatically.

            “Mom!” “Regina!”

            The brunette rolled her eyes. “Emma, you need to start watching what you eat. Hamburgers are filled with fat and cholesterol. I’m sure you don’t want to develop any serious health problems before you turn thirty-five.”

            “Since when do you care what I eat?”

            “Since you’ve been taking our son out for fast food every other night. It’s not healthy for him _or_ for you.”

            “C’mon, Regina, I’ve been living off of that stuff for _years_. I think if it was gonna kill me, it already would have.” She turned to the flight attendant, who had been waiting patiently while the argument took place. “I’ll have the burger, she’ll take the salad, and – Henry, what do you want?”

            “Hamburger,” he replied monotonously, jerking his body into the buttons he pressed as he encountered a particularly volatile extra-terrestrial.

            Regina put down his tray for him and passed down his dish, all the while mumbling, “Fine. Don’t come crying to me when the two of you start suffering from heart problems because you shoveled in too much junk food.” It was meant to be apathetic, but they all knew Regina would intervene before Henry developed any major health problems from his diet.

            “Okay, have fun eating your rabbit food,” quipped Emma, passing Regina her salad before setting her own food in front of her. She addressed the flight attendant. “Thank you.”

            Grinning at the bickering women, Amanda pushed her cart forward and continued to hand out meals.

*

            Regina glanced up from her romance novel and eyed Emma’s screen, which displayed two teenagers beating each other up.

            “Is that the movie you were so intent on watching?” she asked, wincing as the auburn-haired girl on screen suffered a massive blow.

            Emma nodded, eyes trained to the movie. “Yeah, it’s so good.”

            The muscular man fighting the girl continued to punch, and Regina leaned forward when he slammed her onto the ground. It looked as if there were people watching the fight, but she didn’t understand why they were doing nothing.

            “Why is he beating up that girl?” she asked, not particularly enjoying the movie but intrigued by what she saw.

            Too far into the action to answer, Emma tugged on the cord for her right ear bud and wordlessly passed it to Regina. The brunette hesitated, staring at the black plastic, before sticking it in her ear and leaning in to get a better look at the screen. The girl got back up, was hit back down, and finally knocked unconscious.

            “This movie is very violent.”

            “You uncomfortable?”

            “I’ve caused worse, Miss Swan.”

Emma turned to look at Regina, who watched curiously as Tris dreamed about her mother cutting her hair as if the brunette wasn’t bothered by her own morbid, self-aware comment.

            “Peter says you’re out,” the movie continued.

            “Out of what?” Regina asked out loud, still unaware of the politics of the movie.

            “Initiation for her faction,” Emma supplied, slightly annoyed but pleased with Regina’s interest.

            The train carrying the initiates was speeding away, and when Tris appeared, Regina raised her eyebrows.

            “She was just in a fight, and knocked out cold for days, and now she’s chasing down a train?”

            Emma shrugged. “Some people are resilient.” She glanced at Regina again, no longer talking about the movie. “When the world treats them like shit, they get back up and keep going.” She nudged the brunette. “Like you.”

            Regina was engrossed in the movie, eyes trained on Tris as the girl caught up with the last car, and though she didn’t say anything, Emma knew she had heard her. When Tris made it onto the train, Regina lifted her lips into a triumphant smirk.

*

            Henry was just about to advance to the next level of his videogame when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

            Pausing the game and glancing up, he saw the flight attendant standing over his mothers, draping a blanket over their sleeping forms. Regina’s head was on Emma’s shoulder, and Emma’s head was against the headrest, nose buried into dark tresses. Henry could see the black cord of their headphones, still embedded in their ears, disappearing beneath locks of hair and the red fabric covering them. They must have fallen asleep during the movie. Neither reacted to the flight attendant’s motions as she adjusted the blanket.

            When she caught Henry watching her, she smiled at him and held up another folded square of fabric, whispering “Would you like one, too?”

            Henry shook his head. “No thanks,” he murmured back.

            Before she moved on, she tugged once more on the blanket, more effectively covering Emma’s exposed shoulder. “Your moms look pretty comfortable.”

            He smiled, turning his attention back to his game. “Yeah, they do.”

*

When the captain announced it would be about thirty minutes to landing, Henry paused his game and nudged Regina.

“Moms,” he spoke, watching the flight attendants begin their final sweep through the aisle.

“Moms,” he repeated, louder, which seemed to do the trick. The two awoke, sat up, and rubbed their eyes, Emma stretching and Regina brushing strands of hair from her face.

            “Wha...,” Emma stifled a yawn, “Wha you wan, kid?”

            Henry smirked at his moms as they pulled themselves from sleep. “We’re landing soon.”

            The two seemed to notice they’d been sharing a blanket at the same time. “Where’d this come from?” the blonde questioned, bunching up the fabric in her lap but making no move to take it off.

            “The flight attendant brought it a few hours ago. You guys were passed out. She said you looked cozy.”

            Both women blushed at the final comment, suddenly aware that they had been sleeping on each other.

            “I’m sorry,” Regina started. “I didn’t realize –”

            “It’s fine,” Emma cut in. “I hope my head wasn’t –”

            “No, you were quite all right.”

            At that moment, Amanda rolled up to their row with her cart.

            “Need anything else, ladies? Sir?”

            “No, thank you,” Regina replied, attempting to fix her hair.

            “Okay, then.” She started to move on, but paused when she was even with Emma and leaned over so both women could hear her. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you ladies make a lovely couple.”

            Emma glanced at Regina, whose eyes had widened slightly at the comment. Even Henry had paused his game to stare at the woman.

“Oh, ma’am, they’re not –”

            “…gonna need anything else,” Emma cut in. She flashed a smile at the flight attendant. “Thank you.” The young woman smiled back, nodding, before addressing the next row of people.

            Henry leaned over Regina’s lap, both of whom wore identical looks of confusion.        

“Why did you do that?” Henry asked.

            “Yes, Emma, why _did_ you do that?” Regina repeated, sounding much more annoyed then Henry.

            The blonde shrugged, settling back into her seat. “What, _you_ wanna explain this whole situation to her? ‘Actually, we’re not together. In fact, a few years ago we were mortal enemies while we fought over custody of the Evil Queen’s adoptive son who also just so happens to be the Savior’s birth son. But now we’re just really good friends raising our kid together.’ Sounds like a bad fantasy novel. Besides, it’s not like we’re ever gonna see her again. Let her think what she wants.”

            Regina narrowed her eyes. “But we’re not married.”

            “So? Amanda thinks we are.” Suddenly, Emma smirked, picked up Regina’s hand, and laced their fingers together. “C’mon, Mrs. Swan, just pretend for a minute.”

            Regina scoffed, the hint of a smile creeping onto her face. “Oh, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m taking _your_ name, Mrs. Mills.”

            “But Mrs. Swan sounds _so_ much _better_ than Mrs. Mills.”

            “But, theoretically, you moved into _my_ house, so it only makes sense for you to take _my_ name.”

            “How about Swan-Mills?” Henry piped up from his seat, smirking but not looking away from his game.

            Regina wrinkled her nose at the thought of her name being placed last, but didn’t seem to mind when she saw Emma’s playful grin.

            “Okay, Swan-Mills it is,” the blonde confirmed, letting their folded hands sway in their shared space. “So, Mrs. Swan-Mills, how did you propose to me?”

            Regina narrowed her eyes. “What makes you think I proposed to you? Who’s to say that you didn’t propose to me?”

            The blonde pursed her lip. “Point taken. How about we both go?”

            “Okay, fine,” Regina agreed. “If I were to propose to you, I would…” she tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling in thought, “…put on a tight dress. Wear the necklace you bought me for our first anniversary. A little perfume right…” Bringing their entwined hands to eye level, she brushed their fingers against the pulse point on her neck. “Right here.”

The corner of her scarlet lips lifted in a soft smirk. “I would cook you an extravagant meal, and we’d eat it by candlelight. And after we’d cleaned our plates and started our second or third glass of wine, I’d take you to the fireplace mantel. The ring would be lying on top of it, next to a picture of me and Henry.

            “I’d tell you that although the foster system failed to provide you with a forever family, you managed to find one yourself in Storybrooke. And then I would ask permission to join that family, officially, as your wife.”

            She picked up her water bottle with her free hand and took a swig. The row was silent as the other two occupants gazed at Regina in wonder. Henry had even paused his game to listen.

            “Mom, that’s…” He gave his head a slight shake, unable to finish his sentence.

            Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Wow.”

            The brunette extracted her hand from Emma's and sat up straight, brushing her skirt off as the silence stretched on.

            “Wow, what? Did I overstep? If I hurt you by talking about your past…”

            “No, Regina, it’s okay. It’s,” she paused, cheeks flushing soft pink, “it’s really great.”

            The brunette ducked her head into her lap, trying to cover the red that also was climbing her face. Straightening her blouse, she cleared her throat, lifted her head, and met Emma’s eyes again.

            “All right, Mrs. Swan-Mills, it’s your turn.”

            Emma grinned, reclaiming Regina’s hand and intertwining their fingers together.

            “Okay, wifey, when I proposed to you, I…” she trailed off, glancing around the cabin as if it would give her the epiphany she was waiting for. Finally, she looked back at her row, locking eyes with Regina and continuing. “I took you to the site of our first date. I arranged everything just like it was when we went the first time; hell, I wore the same low-cut dress, too. Only because I knew you liked it.” She winked.

            “Then I helped you into your seat and poured you a glass of your favorite red wine. I… couldn’t even wait until we started eating because I was so nervous, so while you were taking your first sip, I pulled the ring box out of my picket, popped it open, and said, ‘All your life, the world has treated you like shit. Let me be the one to treat you right.’”

            She smiled and squeezed Regina’s hand, proud of herself for coming up with a cute story. This time, the brunette couldn’t hide the red that flushed her cheeks as she smiled back.

            “And you think your tactful use of obscenities would convince me to say yes?” she teased.

            Emma scoffed. “You love my obscenities. Besides, it’s not like you never use them.” She glanced at their hands, running a thumb over Regina’s. “So I was certain that you would say yes,” she whispered.

            The women grew quiet then, uncomfortably serious. Emma’s confidence in Regina’s fictional answer surprised them both. What surprised Regina even more was that although she had made a quip about Emma’s tact, she knew that she would have said yes to the woman’s proposal.

If they had been together. Which they weren’t.

            It was strange. The last person who she’d been so sure of marrying had been Daniel. Her marriage with Leopold was a sham, one that was conducted at the hands of her mother. Graham was more of a plaything than an actual partner, and Robin… well… when she was with him, she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, because she knew it ultimately would.

And of course, it did.

She surprised herself when she realized she would have been willing to say yes to Emma’s proposal. Their relationship had become so _easy_ together within the past few weeks; even strangers were able to see it, though what they actually called it was inaccurate.

            Emma abruptly released Regina’s hand, busying herself with cleaning up her seat.

            The brunette watched Emma silently clean up her trash, put up her tray, and bring her seat back to its original position. The blonde made no attempt to move the blanket, but bent down to retrieve her phone from her bag to give her something else to do. Regina followed suit, tidying up her things and pulling out her book, though she made no attempt to actually digest the words inside it.

            What were they thinking? Emma had a _boyfriend_ waiting for her at home. They don’t belong with each other. It was just a silly comment by a silly flight attendant. The pretend proposals that followed were just a fun way to pass the time; they didn’t mean anything.

            When the plane landed, Emma stood up to unload their bags from the overhead compartment. Regina accepted hers politely. When they walked past Amanda, Henry was the only one who waved. The other two simply nodded their thanks and avoided eye contact.

            “Are you guys okay?” he asked as they walked through the tunnel. “You haven’t said a word since –”

            “Yep.” “We’re fine, Henry,” they answered at the same time.

            Henry dropped the subject, chalking up their strange behavior to estrogen and PMS and definitely _not_ the conversation they had had on the plane.

            “Let’s get what we came here for,” Regina said, glancing at Emma and noticing the determined look that she wore. Both women tried to put their thoughts for the other aside, and instead focused only on what they needed to do to find the Author.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably my favorite prompt all week. Thank you for reading!


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